Progress Report.

Well, let's see. I've pretty much completely given up soda in favor of Polar, Naturally flavored seltzer - no carbs, no calories, no sodium. I was drinking strictly water, water with True Lemon, Lime or Orange, or tea (unsweetened or sweetened with either agave syrup or Sun Crystals-half stevia, half sugar) but I realized I really missed having something fizzy.

At any rate, that's a huge source of sugar totally gone from my diet and Polar's Vanilla Seltzer is kinda like Vanilla Cream Soda for grown-ups.

Even Hubby is loving the soap nuts and is taking a handful to his parents tomorrow, we managed to talk them into trying them.

We're both packing lunch nearly everyday and I'm even having breakfast more often than not.

We're getting there.

This past weekend we did a ton of planting in the garden(s). Pansies and Daffodils out front - which gives the added bonus that we can add the pansy petals to salads if we want. And we put in Asparagus roots and Onion sets out back. Not sure what other veggies we're planting yet, but we're thinking of hanging strawberries on the fence.

It's been almost a year, and I'm still loving the Diva Cup although I did pick up a Glad Rag the other day for "those" days.

I've always had a hard time making myself eat yogurt, but StonyField Organics seems to be the answer to that one. They have awesome flavors like Strawberry-Pomegranate and a French Vanilla that's so creamy even I love it plain (although it's good with Cinnamon graham crackers) and my personal favorite and every chocolate lovers dream yogurt Chocolate Underground. It's their same awesome Vanilla yogurt, but with a layer of chocolate hidden under it. Not chocolate yogurt, CHOCOLATE.

I still haven't needed to replace my Crystal Deodorant, although I did buy a second one because Hubby started using it too, and I got tired of sharing. I like to put it one when I'm wet, but since he showers at night, but likes to put on deodorant right before leaving in the morning, he was wetting the deodorant crystal. Totally valid option, but I got tired of freezing cold water dribbling down my side in the morning.

I'm totally natural for treating my allergies for almost a year now also. Stinging Nettle daily and sinus rinses as needed are taking care of me better the traditional prescriptions ever did.

All in all, so far, I'm still kinda fat, but I'm happy. We're living better, eating better and saving lots of money in wacky little ways. I haven't bought new deodorant in almost a year and couldn't tell you the last time that I bought pads. We're off to a good start. If only I could actually remember to take my reusable shopping when I leave the house, we'd be awesome.

Soap Nuts.

Yes, I said Soap Nuts. Actually, they're the dried berry of the Chinese Soapberry Tree.

Anyway, had to go to King of Prussia the other day and while we were that far, we decided to pop over to West Chester to go to Senora's Authentic Mexican (I don't how to do the thingy on the 'N') for lunch. Then we thought, while we're here, let's see if the Great Pumpkin Market is still open.

I had heard about Soap Nuts before, but I hadn't seen them in a store, at least not that I can remember. The best part, they had them in a trial size. Which meant I didn't have to buy the 80 load huge box, just to try them. So we've got the first load in the wash right now. Wish me luck.

Here's the deal about Soap Nuts. First thing, if you want all the info go to Maggie's Pure Land Products website. But I'll summarize it here. Basically, they're a natural source of Saponin which is a natural cleanser. It's been used for something like 2500 years and is low sudsing and safe for high efficiency machines.

You take like 5 of them and put them in a cotton pouch and toss it in the washer (use less for hot water). It's fragrance free and works naturally as a fabric softener, which is great for me because I'm allergic to fabric softener. And you get to reuse them. Once the saponin's gone you toss them in the compost pile or turn them under in the garden.



I'll let you know how it turns out, but everything I can find online says that everyone who uses them loves them.